CHAPTER XVI.

CHAPTER XVI.Of the internal Commotions raised by the Indians and Chinese during the War.The provinces of Tondo and Cavite, during the war, were in general in a state of tranquillity, submitting patiently to the law of the strongest, but still retaining their bias to the King of Spain. Notwithstanding which, however, many robberies and irregularities occurred, and even murders were perpetrated; for those who had been released so imprudently from prison by the English, joining with others who had been thrown out of employment, or whose inclinations led that way under the shelter of such a convulsed period, committed great atrocities, with impunity, on such Spaniards and Mestees as hadquitted Manila, and were scattered about the towns and country; and these disturbances at last attained such a height, that regular parties were formed, which infested the highways, and plundered the estates, even murdering, in some instances, the poor ignorant peasantry, till eventually this class of people, wearied out by such attacks, abandoned their farms, leaving their cattle and effects in the power of these wretches.In the province of Batangas, one of the principal inhabitants of the town of San Pablo collecting a body of Chinese and Indians, murdered the friar, in revenge for some supposed injury. Even the commandant of the troops in the town of Rosario, having collected some of those whom the English had liberated from prison, satiated his fury on the resident minister, (who had complained that he was not allowed the number of servants which the King ordered) by setting fire to his housein the first instance, and murdering him in the act of escaping from the flames.Another party in this province was commanded by a mulatto, who styled himself a King. His first attack was on Liyan estate, belonging to the Jesuits, upon which were some Spaniards and monks, who made terms with him on his granting them their lives, and delivered up the house to be plundered. Some of his people went to rob the prior of Tanavan, who was an Augustine, and had retired to the granary in order to avoid the English; but finding on him only two rials, they murdered him in a most cruel and wanton manner.In the province of Lake Bay the Indians made many attacks on the Spaniards, who had retired to that country, particularly on the alcalde mayor, with whom they had before been on very bad terms, and on the monks, because they had favoured the conveyance of the money to Manila, which the Franciscan friars remittedto Señor Anda. The Archbishop issued an order, in which he desired that if the English went into that quarter they might be well treated, and not to make any resistance to them, as, by that conduct, less mischief would be done. The alcalde sent this order over the mountains to Pagsanhan, but the officer commanding there issued a counter-order to that of the alcalde, designating him as a traitor, who wanted to deliver up the province to the English. The alcalde being informed of this, contrived to put him in confinement, and had him publicly whipped under the gallows. This enraged the Indians, and collecting in considerable numbers, they attacked and ill treated the alcalde’s family; they killed his cousin, his son in law, and a German who lived with him, and they took the alcalde himself to the gallows, where, after flogging him most cruelly, they stabbed him to death.The aggressors presented themselvesbefore Señor Anda, suing for pardon for this offence; and he not deeming this a proper season to show due severity, let the matter pass unnoticed.The provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga firmly adhered to their allegiance, and, indeed, were the only districts on which the Spaniards could place reliance, although there were not wanting some malicious spirits, who, taking advantage of the times, by menaces extorted money, robbed and plundered the estates, and even murdered a poor Dominican, who resided at Pandi. These, however, were the crimes of individuals, and not chargeable on the body of the people: it may therefore be said, that these provinces, which were in the immediate neighbourhood of Manila, were tranquil, and preserved their allegiance to the Spaniards.Although the Señor Arandia had sent away all the Pagan Chinese, others replaced them after his death, and the augmentationof their numbers which took place in three years was incredible. There were besides many Chinese Christians in Parian, and scattered over the provinces, and almost all of them declared for the English. The moment they took possession of Manila, these Chinese gave them every aid, and accompanied them in all their expeditions. They had it, indeed, in contemplation to make a general rising, which would have caused much bloodshed had it not been discovered in time, for it was their plan to murder Señor Anda and all hispeoplein Bacolor church, on Christmas eve, 1762; and by committing every description of outrage in the churches that same night, they expected to render the Spaniards incapable of resisting the English, with whom they had a secret understanding.The authors of this most atrocious scheme were the Chinese of the town of Uava, in the province of Pampanga, wheremany of that nation had fixed their residence, and fabricated a species of cannon which they made of large cane, well tied together with tarred rushes, and which bore two or three discharges. They deceived the officiating clergyman of the town, telling him they were preparing all those things against the English, but Señor Anda had his suspicions of them. In this state of things a poor simple Chinese, who was going to marry an Indian of a village, called Mexico, advised Señor Anda not to go to mass, and in the end discovered all the plot. The Indian girl likewise made a full discovery to the Augustine curate of that town, and he communicated her story to Anda, who went to Uava with some troops on the 23d of December.The Chinese went out to meet him in two detachments, with their cane guns, by a discharge of which one of his people was killed; the Spaniards returned the fire, and obliged the Chinese to retire to theconvent. Señor Anda sent a Spaniard to propose an amicable arrangement with them, but, blind and obstinate in their rebellion, they refused it. Our people then advanced, seeing they must have recourse to arms, and made an immense carnage among them; many of them likewise were taken alive, and hanged next day in Bacolor. Señor Anda gave orders that those who escaped should be tried for their conduct, in whatever part they were found; but having found some letters which proved that they had an understanding with those of Parian on the subject of these commotions, he ordered that all the Chinese in the islands should be hanged, which orders were put in execution very generally, but where the order had been disregarded, he readily overlooked the omission.In the province of Cagayan the disturbances had commenced as soon as the capture of Manila was known, and in the town of Yligan, the Indians, whom we callTimavas, had flogged the commandant of the place. They presented themselves to the chiefs, who were appointed receivers of the royal revenue, declaring themselves no longer tributary to the Spanish government: other towns followed their example, and the rebellion thus gained ground. The chiefs called in the aid of the infidel Indians, and some skirmishes took place; but not being able to succeed in reducing the insurgents to submission, they applied to the fountain head, imploring the assistance of the Spaniards. Don Manuel de Arza had just arrived in the province with the title of Captain-general of the three provinces of Cagayan, Ylocos, and Pangasinan (the two latter being likewise in a state of insurrection); and collecting a number of loyal Indians and some Spaniards, he overpowered the rebels, hanged the ringleaders, and restored tranquillity in the province. His presence being no longer necessary in Cagayan, hewent to Ylocos, where sedition had taken a still deeper root. Diego de Silang, an Indian, very quick and artful, and who being a native of Manila, spoke the Spanish language well, began to revolutionize this province, by telling his countrymen, that in order to maintain the Catholic faith, and to preserve the country in obedience to the King, it was requisite to join together and arm against the Spaniards, and deliver them up to the English, against whom they had no means of resistance. These specious arguments made an impression on the minds of the chiefs, and many plebeians, particularly those of Bigan, which is the capital of the province, and residence of the Bishop. The seduced Indians presented themselves armed, and demanded that the Alcalde should give up the staff of government, and deposit it in the hands of the Vicar-general. The majority advised the Alcalde to defend himself against this attack; but instigated by hisfears, or swayed by the opinion of injudicious friends, he resigned the command to the Vicar-general, and with noinconsiderableshare of hazard of his life, effected his escape from the province. Emboldened by their success in this instance, the rebels demanded of the Bishop elect, Señor Ustariz, a Dominican, an exemption from the tribute, declaring that they acted justifiable in deposing the Alcalde. The Bishop pledged himself to lay before Señor Anda a favourable representation of their claims; but Silang being determined on acquiring the command, and little satisfied with what he had done, began to collect troops for more extensive operations.The house of the Vicar-general was too well fortified for the rebels to attack it, but they presented themselves armed on the hills in the vicinity. The Vicar-general ordered the loyal Indians to assemble at Bigan, armed and accoutred, from whence the whole sallied out, and surprising therebels, they took some of them; but discontinuing the action too soon, and separating in their usual unsoldier-like manner, they thus gave the rebels an opportunity to rally, and a day or two after they set fire to and burnt down part of the city. The Indians from the south, who came to the defence of the town, seeing it in flames, returned, as did those of the north, by which means the rebels were enabled to take possession of the Vicar-general’s house, and the arms it contained.Silang, rendered vain by these successes, despatched emissaries towards the north, who, raising all the native towns, committed many robberies and atrocities, directing their vengeance in particular against some of the chiefs and Augustine friars, insisting on its having been their fault that the tribute had not been abolished; but in the end their avarice prevailed, and they agreed to accept a consideration in money by way of ransom for their lives.The authority of Silang being acknowledged by the towns of the north, his emissaries proceeded to those of the south, directing each of them to name a chief as their representative, who was ordered to Bigan, where their powers were to be ratified. By this means he levied considerable sums of money. In a few days he found himself master of the whole province, and he appointed Jesus of Nazareth to be Captain-general of it, he himself assuming the title of his Alcalde Mayor for the protection of the Catholic religion, and of the dominions of the King of Spain. He published a manifesto, which breathed the true spirit of Christianity; always wore his rosary; and obliged the Indians to hear mass, ordering them to confess, and to take care that the children went regularly to school. In the midst of all the sepious actions, he, by means of his emissaries, robbed the estates of cattle, and obliged the proprietors to ransom their lives with money: he levieda sum of one hundred dollars from every friar, but reduced the fine to eighty dollars, on the petition of one of them who had formerly done him favours. Under the pretext of defending the province from the English, he had centinels placed in all directions, with a view to prevent information being conveyed to Señor Anda of what passed. An Augustine friar, however, contrived to forward a despatch to that effect; but Señor Anda having scarcely troops enough to defend himself, merely sent an order to Silang to present himself at Bacolor in nine days, to give an account of his conduct, under the penalty of being considered as a traitor, and arrested, for which purpose he threatened to send a force to Pampanga, if necessary.This order was published, accompanied by many vague reports that the Spaniards were coming against Ylocos; in consequence of which, and the friars refusing to grant absolution to the rebels, many ofthem deserted from Silang, particularly those of the northern towns, and on this account many of the clergy were made prisoners and conducted to Bigan, although Silang very soon liberated them; for he still affected to respect the Catholic religion, whereby he deceived the clergy, and many Indians who put confidence in him. This rebel had sent to Manila, as a present to the English, two junks, loaded with various effects, which he had plundered in the provinces. A letter accompanied this present, in which he acknowledged the King of Great Britain to be his legitimate Sovereign, and offered to deliver up the province to them. The English government sent a vessel bearing despatches, and a present to Silang, and conferred on him the title of Alcalde Mayor, which he directly made public, to the great regret of the Indians, who had urged him to deliver them from the English, and now saw themselves subjected to them under the ordersof the despot, Diego Silang, who exacted from them contributions, and subjected them to more vexations than they ever suffered before; at the same time that they no longer dared to express their sentiments. As the chief magistrate of the English, and in their name, he ordered some soldiers whom he had raised from the mountaineers of other provinces, who had taken refuge at Ylocos, to make all the friars prisoners; and that there might be no resistance on the part of the towns, he promised them that the English should send them other clergy toadministerthe sacrament to them. The monks, who were Augustines, made no resistance, and with all possible despatch joined their Bishop in the convent of Bantay (which is merely a short walk from Bigan), waiting the ultimate determination of the tyrant. The Bishop declared Silang excommunicated; and he, pretending to be sensible of his error, granted permission to some of the clergy to return totheir towns; but they had received intelligence of arrangements he had made for murdering them all, and that he was in expectation of the arrival of some infidels from the mountains to execute his wicked designs, for the Indians not only refused to lay their hands on the clergy, but were determined to die with them. They all prepared for death, without further hopes than what arose from the intentions of the principal Indians, who were making dispositions to come to their assistance; but this was delayed so long, that a Spanish mestizo, named Vicos, presenting himself to the Bishop, said, “Señor, I am going to make an end of that vile Indian; give me your benediction, that I may go and kill the tyrant.” He went out of the convent, accompanied by Captain Buecbuee, with a blunderbuss in very bad condition, and reaching the house of Silang, discharged the contents in his side, which caused his immediate death. In consequence of thishis party became completely broken and dismayed, and the same evening the bells were set a ringing, and the evening service sung, to the satisfaction of all, and in the midst of exclamations of “Long live the King of Spain!” The Bishop wished to appoint Vicos chief justice, but the latter advised him to name Buecbuee, who had a considerable party, and could therefore the better overawe any ill disposed persons. The friars immediately returned to their towns, and through their persuasions, seconded by the authority of Don Manuel Arza, who had just arrived, they tranquillized such as were in any way discontented. The death of Silang happened the 28th of May, 1763, and he had commenced his rebellion the 14th of December, 1762.The most obstinate rebellion of the Indians was that in the province of Pangasinan. The sedition broke out at the town of Binalatongan on the 3d of November,1762, in consequence of the Alcalde Mayor having sent a commission to collect the royal tribute. The news spread over all the towns of the province; a general request was made that the tribute should be remitted, and that the Alcalde Mayor and judges of the different towns should be replaced by others. About the end of November arrived Don Antonio Panelo at Pangasinan, with the title of lieutenant-general, and with orders from Señor Anda to confine the Alcalde, who was a creature of the Archbishop, and suspected of tampering with the English, although nothing like this was ever proved. As soon as Panelo arrived, the revolted Indians presented themselves, demanding that the tribute should be abolished, and that the Spaniards should quit the province. The latter were fourteen in number, with muskets and pattereros, and the Dominican friars advised them to defend themselves against this mob; but they were alarmedat their numbers, and abandoning the province, the Indians continued their rebellious proceedings.The Dominican friars assembled in the town of Asingan, and wrote to their respective parishioners that they would forsake them if they did not submit to the King of Spain; the result of which was, that the Indians came from all quarters, supplicating them to return to their towns, and promising to go to Pampanga to beg of Señor Anda, an Alcalde Mayor; however, they performed none of their promises, so that our Governor and Captain-general was obliged to send troops to reduce them to subjection. Don Fernando Araya went out with thirty-three Spaniards and four hundred Indian archers; they took with them five hundred cartridges, which was all the ammunition that could be spared, in consequence of the scarcity of that article at Pampanga. These troops arrived in Lent time at the river Bayamban,on the opposite bank of which the enemy had entrenched themselves with some cannon and pattereros. The firing commenced on both sides; our people passed over the river, took the entrenchments, and put the Indians to flight, although they were ten thousand in number, and followed them up a short distance; but before they expended all their cartridges they thought proper to retreat, which they did in good order; on our part four Spaniards and four Indians were killed, whose heads the rebels carried off to the towns, where they amused themselves with dancing, according to their custom, and became bolder than ever. The Dominican friars, in endeavouring to escape, often ran the risk of their lives; some were, however, enabled to get away, but those who remained were obliged to refuse the sacrament to the Indians, and for which they intended to murder them, until the voice of the women, as also ofthose who had not entered into the rebellion by choice, prevailing, it was resolved to spare their lives. To add to all their troubles, those poor friars had the additional regret to find their fidelity suspected, merely because they were not murdered by the Indians. Miserable, indeed, was the situation of the missionaries in those times; if they abandoned their duty they were blamed, because it was said the flame of rebellion became more extended; and if they remained among them, and were not killed by the Indians, out of respect, or because they wanted a confessor in the hour of death, they were deemed accomplices in their crimes.The Dominican friars completely vindicated their honour by means of their discourses, and by the aid of the Bishop Ustariz, who, having tranquillized the inhabitants of Ylocos, came to give his assistance in the pacification of the province of Pangasinan. The rebels were in somedegree quieted, and, at last, were induced to proceed to Pampanga to solicit an Alcalde Mayor of Señor Anda. They were very kindly received, their former crimes were pardoned, and he gave them Azevedo for their Alcalde, who took possession of his magistracy on the 5th of December, 1763.Señor Azevedo was not long in discovering that the flame of rebellion was only smothered, and not extinguished; and he gave information to Señor Anda to that effect, requesting him to send a force to keep the deluded in awe. Señor Anda despatched one hundred and eighty men from his camp to Pangasinan, and gave orders to Don Manuel Arza to extirpate the last remains of the rebellion from Ylocos, that he might form a junction with the troops going to Manila under command of Don Pedro Bonardel. As soon as the rebels knew that troops were going from Manila, they assembled tumultuouslyin the town of Calasiao, where the Alcalde was with two Spaniards and two Dominican friars in the convent. The Indians besieged them, but they defended themselves with their muskets; and the rebels not daring to make an assault on the convent, chose the alternative of setting it on fire. The unfortunate party besieged had no other resource but to take refuge on the tower of the church, with the little provisions they could find at hand, where they maintained themselves five days, until our troops learning their unfortunate situation made a forced march to their assistance, routing the rebels in their way.Bonardel pursued his march to Lingayen, the capital of the province, and putting every detachment of rebels to flight which came in his way, he fortified that town, and was joined by Don Manuel de Arza with a body of Indians which he brought from Ylocos, both by sea and land. Bonardel leaving the remainder of his peoplein Lingayen, took fifty men, and went to St. Fabian to liberate the Bishop and some Dominicans, whom the rebels detained as prisoners; he routed them, and although they had possessed themselves of the passes, he managed to join the rest of the army.In the beginning of the year 1764 nobody opposed our authority in the towns, the rebels had retired to the mountains, taking with them the friars who were not able to join the Spaniards: each troop of rebels had its particular chief, and the rebellion could not be quelled merely by one battle. It was therefore determined upon to distribute detachments over the country, and subdue it in detail. They proceeded by hanging the leaders of the mutiny as they took them, pardoning the great mass of their followers; but they were so very obstinate, that although sensible they could offer no resistance, and that it was easy for them to obtain a general amnesty, they still continued in rebellion, nor was it effectuallyquelled till March, 1765. On our side we lost in this expedition seventy Spaniards, and one hundred and forty Indians, and of the rebels more than ten thousand perished. Many of the rebels too died of hunger, or passed over to other provinces, and the first enumeration that was made of the province after the rebellion, it was found that twenty-six thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven persons were deficient of the proper number, composing nearly half the population. All the other provinces of the islands were restored to tranquillity, and maintained in their allegiance to the King of Spain, under the orders of Señor Anda.

CHAPTER XVI.Of the internal Commotions raised by the Indians and Chinese during the War.

Of the internal Commotions raised by the Indians and Chinese during the War.

The provinces of Tondo and Cavite, during the war, were in general in a state of tranquillity, submitting patiently to the law of the strongest, but still retaining their bias to the King of Spain. Notwithstanding which, however, many robberies and irregularities occurred, and even murders were perpetrated; for those who had been released so imprudently from prison by the English, joining with others who had been thrown out of employment, or whose inclinations led that way under the shelter of such a convulsed period, committed great atrocities, with impunity, on such Spaniards and Mestees as hadquitted Manila, and were scattered about the towns and country; and these disturbances at last attained such a height, that regular parties were formed, which infested the highways, and plundered the estates, even murdering, in some instances, the poor ignorant peasantry, till eventually this class of people, wearied out by such attacks, abandoned their farms, leaving their cattle and effects in the power of these wretches.In the province of Batangas, one of the principal inhabitants of the town of San Pablo collecting a body of Chinese and Indians, murdered the friar, in revenge for some supposed injury. Even the commandant of the troops in the town of Rosario, having collected some of those whom the English had liberated from prison, satiated his fury on the resident minister, (who had complained that he was not allowed the number of servants which the King ordered) by setting fire to his housein the first instance, and murdering him in the act of escaping from the flames.Another party in this province was commanded by a mulatto, who styled himself a King. His first attack was on Liyan estate, belonging to the Jesuits, upon which were some Spaniards and monks, who made terms with him on his granting them their lives, and delivered up the house to be plundered. Some of his people went to rob the prior of Tanavan, who was an Augustine, and had retired to the granary in order to avoid the English; but finding on him only two rials, they murdered him in a most cruel and wanton manner.In the province of Lake Bay the Indians made many attacks on the Spaniards, who had retired to that country, particularly on the alcalde mayor, with whom they had before been on very bad terms, and on the monks, because they had favoured the conveyance of the money to Manila, which the Franciscan friars remittedto Señor Anda. The Archbishop issued an order, in which he desired that if the English went into that quarter they might be well treated, and not to make any resistance to them, as, by that conduct, less mischief would be done. The alcalde sent this order over the mountains to Pagsanhan, but the officer commanding there issued a counter-order to that of the alcalde, designating him as a traitor, who wanted to deliver up the province to the English. The alcalde being informed of this, contrived to put him in confinement, and had him publicly whipped under the gallows. This enraged the Indians, and collecting in considerable numbers, they attacked and ill treated the alcalde’s family; they killed his cousin, his son in law, and a German who lived with him, and they took the alcalde himself to the gallows, where, after flogging him most cruelly, they stabbed him to death.The aggressors presented themselvesbefore Señor Anda, suing for pardon for this offence; and he not deeming this a proper season to show due severity, let the matter pass unnoticed.The provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga firmly adhered to their allegiance, and, indeed, were the only districts on which the Spaniards could place reliance, although there were not wanting some malicious spirits, who, taking advantage of the times, by menaces extorted money, robbed and plundered the estates, and even murdered a poor Dominican, who resided at Pandi. These, however, were the crimes of individuals, and not chargeable on the body of the people: it may therefore be said, that these provinces, which were in the immediate neighbourhood of Manila, were tranquil, and preserved their allegiance to the Spaniards.Although the Señor Arandia had sent away all the Pagan Chinese, others replaced them after his death, and the augmentationof their numbers which took place in three years was incredible. There were besides many Chinese Christians in Parian, and scattered over the provinces, and almost all of them declared for the English. The moment they took possession of Manila, these Chinese gave them every aid, and accompanied them in all their expeditions. They had it, indeed, in contemplation to make a general rising, which would have caused much bloodshed had it not been discovered in time, for it was their plan to murder Señor Anda and all hispeoplein Bacolor church, on Christmas eve, 1762; and by committing every description of outrage in the churches that same night, they expected to render the Spaniards incapable of resisting the English, with whom they had a secret understanding.The authors of this most atrocious scheme were the Chinese of the town of Uava, in the province of Pampanga, wheremany of that nation had fixed their residence, and fabricated a species of cannon which they made of large cane, well tied together with tarred rushes, and which bore two or three discharges. They deceived the officiating clergyman of the town, telling him they were preparing all those things against the English, but Señor Anda had his suspicions of them. In this state of things a poor simple Chinese, who was going to marry an Indian of a village, called Mexico, advised Señor Anda not to go to mass, and in the end discovered all the plot. The Indian girl likewise made a full discovery to the Augustine curate of that town, and he communicated her story to Anda, who went to Uava with some troops on the 23d of December.The Chinese went out to meet him in two detachments, with their cane guns, by a discharge of which one of his people was killed; the Spaniards returned the fire, and obliged the Chinese to retire to theconvent. Señor Anda sent a Spaniard to propose an amicable arrangement with them, but, blind and obstinate in their rebellion, they refused it. Our people then advanced, seeing they must have recourse to arms, and made an immense carnage among them; many of them likewise were taken alive, and hanged next day in Bacolor. Señor Anda gave orders that those who escaped should be tried for their conduct, in whatever part they were found; but having found some letters which proved that they had an understanding with those of Parian on the subject of these commotions, he ordered that all the Chinese in the islands should be hanged, which orders were put in execution very generally, but where the order had been disregarded, he readily overlooked the omission.In the province of Cagayan the disturbances had commenced as soon as the capture of Manila was known, and in the town of Yligan, the Indians, whom we callTimavas, had flogged the commandant of the place. They presented themselves to the chiefs, who were appointed receivers of the royal revenue, declaring themselves no longer tributary to the Spanish government: other towns followed their example, and the rebellion thus gained ground. The chiefs called in the aid of the infidel Indians, and some skirmishes took place; but not being able to succeed in reducing the insurgents to submission, they applied to the fountain head, imploring the assistance of the Spaniards. Don Manuel de Arza had just arrived in the province with the title of Captain-general of the three provinces of Cagayan, Ylocos, and Pangasinan (the two latter being likewise in a state of insurrection); and collecting a number of loyal Indians and some Spaniards, he overpowered the rebels, hanged the ringleaders, and restored tranquillity in the province. His presence being no longer necessary in Cagayan, hewent to Ylocos, where sedition had taken a still deeper root. Diego de Silang, an Indian, very quick and artful, and who being a native of Manila, spoke the Spanish language well, began to revolutionize this province, by telling his countrymen, that in order to maintain the Catholic faith, and to preserve the country in obedience to the King, it was requisite to join together and arm against the Spaniards, and deliver them up to the English, against whom they had no means of resistance. These specious arguments made an impression on the minds of the chiefs, and many plebeians, particularly those of Bigan, which is the capital of the province, and residence of the Bishop. The seduced Indians presented themselves armed, and demanded that the Alcalde should give up the staff of government, and deposit it in the hands of the Vicar-general. The majority advised the Alcalde to defend himself against this attack; but instigated by hisfears, or swayed by the opinion of injudicious friends, he resigned the command to the Vicar-general, and with noinconsiderableshare of hazard of his life, effected his escape from the province. Emboldened by their success in this instance, the rebels demanded of the Bishop elect, Señor Ustariz, a Dominican, an exemption from the tribute, declaring that they acted justifiable in deposing the Alcalde. The Bishop pledged himself to lay before Señor Anda a favourable representation of their claims; but Silang being determined on acquiring the command, and little satisfied with what he had done, began to collect troops for more extensive operations.The house of the Vicar-general was too well fortified for the rebels to attack it, but they presented themselves armed on the hills in the vicinity. The Vicar-general ordered the loyal Indians to assemble at Bigan, armed and accoutred, from whence the whole sallied out, and surprising therebels, they took some of them; but discontinuing the action too soon, and separating in their usual unsoldier-like manner, they thus gave the rebels an opportunity to rally, and a day or two after they set fire to and burnt down part of the city. The Indians from the south, who came to the defence of the town, seeing it in flames, returned, as did those of the north, by which means the rebels were enabled to take possession of the Vicar-general’s house, and the arms it contained.Silang, rendered vain by these successes, despatched emissaries towards the north, who, raising all the native towns, committed many robberies and atrocities, directing their vengeance in particular against some of the chiefs and Augustine friars, insisting on its having been their fault that the tribute had not been abolished; but in the end their avarice prevailed, and they agreed to accept a consideration in money by way of ransom for their lives.The authority of Silang being acknowledged by the towns of the north, his emissaries proceeded to those of the south, directing each of them to name a chief as their representative, who was ordered to Bigan, where their powers were to be ratified. By this means he levied considerable sums of money. In a few days he found himself master of the whole province, and he appointed Jesus of Nazareth to be Captain-general of it, he himself assuming the title of his Alcalde Mayor for the protection of the Catholic religion, and of the dominions of the King of Spain. He published a manifesto, which breathed the true spirit of Christianity; always wore his rosary; and obliged the Indians to hear mass, ordering them to confess, and to take care that the children went regularly to school. In the midst of all the sepious actions, he, by means of his emissaries, robbed the estates of cattle, and obliged the proprietors to ransom their lives with money: he levieda sum of one hundred dollars from every friar, but reduced the fine to eighty dollars, on the petition of one of them who had formerly done him favours. Under the pretext of defending the province from the English, he had centinels placed in all directions, with a view to prevent information being conveyed to Señor Anda of what passed. An Augustine friar, however, contrived to forward a despatch to that effect; but Señor Anda having scarcely troops enough to defend himself, merely sent an order to Silang to present himself at Bacolor in nine days, to give an account of his conduct, under the penalty of being considered as a traitor, and arrested, for which purpose he threatened to send a force to Pampanga, if necessary.This order was published, accompanied by many vague reports that the Spaniards were coming against Ylocos; in consequence of which, and the friars refusing to grant absolution to the rebels, many ofthem deserted from Silang, particularly those of the northern towns, and on this account many of the clergy were made prisoners and conducted to Bigan, although Silang very soon liberated them; for he still affected to respect the Catholic religion, whereby he deceived the clergy, and many Indians who put confidence in him. This rebel had sent to Manila, as a present to the English, two junks, loaded with various effects, which he had plundered in the provinces. A letter accompanied this present, in which he acknowledged the King of Great Britain to be his legitimate Sovereign, and offered to deliver up the province to them. The English government sent a vessel bearing despatches, and a present to Silang, and conferred on him the title of Alcalde Mayor, which he directly made public, to the great regret of the Indians, who had urged him to deliver them from the English, and now saw themselves subjected to them under the ordersof the despot, Diego Silang, who exacted from them contributions, and subjected them to more vexations than they ever suffered before; at the same time that they no longer dared to express their sentiments. As the chief magistrate of the English, and in their name, he ordered some soldiers whom he had raised from the mountaineers of other provinces, who had taken refuge at Ylocos, to make all the friars prisoners; and that there might be no resistance on the part of the towns, he promised them that the English should send them other clergy toadministerthe sacrament to them. The monks, who were Augustines, made no resistance, and with all possible despatch joined their Bishop in the convent of Bantay (which is merely a short walk from Bigan), waiting the ultimate determination of the tyrant. The Bishop declared Silang excommunicated; and he, pretending to be sensible of his error, granted permission to some of the clergy to return totheir towns; but they had received intelligence of arrangements he had made for murdering them all, and that he was in expectation of the arrival of some infidels from the mountains to execute his wicked designs, for the Indians not only refused to lay their hands on the clergy, but were determined to die with them. They all prepared for death, without further hopes than what arose from the intentions of the principal Indians, who were making dispositions to come to their assistance; but this was delayed so long, that a Spanish mestizo, named Vicos, presenting himself to the Bishop, said, “Señor, I am going to make an end of that vile Indian; give me your benediction, that I may go and kill the tyrant.” He went out of the convent, accompanied by Captain Buecbuee, with a blunderbuss in very bad condition, and reaching the house of Silang, discharged the contents in his side, which caused his immediate death. In consequence of thishis party became completely broken and dismayed, and the same evening the bells were set a ringing, and the evening service sung, to the satisfaction of all, and in the midst of exclamations of “Long live the King of Spain!” The Bishop wished to appoint Vicos chief justice, but the latter advised him to name Buecbuee, who had a considerable party, and could therefore the better overawe any ill disposed persons. The friars immediately returned to their towns, and through their persuasions, seconded by the authority of Don Manuel Arza, who had just arrived, they tranquillized such as were in any way discontented. The death of Silang happened the 28th of May, 1763, and he had commenced his rebellion the 14th of December, 1762.The most obstinate rebellion of the Indians was that in the province of Pangasinan. The sedition broke out at the town of Binalatongan on the 3d of November,1762, in consequence of the Alcalde Mayor having sent a commission to collect the royal tribute. The news spread over all the towns of the province; a general request was made that the tribute should be remitted, and that the Alcalde Mayor and judges of the different towns should be replaced by others. About the end of November arrived Don Antonio Panelo at Pangasinan, with the title of lieutenant-general, and with orders from Señor Anda to confine the Alcalde, who was a creature of the Archbishop, and suspected of tampering with the English, although nothing like this was ever proved. As soon as Panelo arrived, the revolted Indians presented themselves, demanding that the tribute should be abolished, and that the Spaniards should quit the province. The latter were fourteen in number, with muskets and pattereros, and the Dominican friars advised them to defend themselves against this mob; but they were alarmedat their numbers, and abandoning the province, the Indians continued their rebellious proceedings.The Dominican friars assembled in the town of Asingan, and wrote to their respective parishioners that they would forsake them if they did not submit to the King of Spain; the result of which was, that the Indians came from all quarters, supplicating them to return to their towns, and promising to go to Pampanga to beg of Señor Anda, an Alcalde Mayor; however, they performed none of their promises, so that our Governor and Captain-general was obliged to send troops to reduce them to subjection. Don Fernando Araya went out with thirty-three Spaniards and four hundred Indian archers; they took with them five hundred cartridges, which was all the ammunition that could be spared, in consequence of the scarcity of that article at Pampanga. These troops arrived in Lent time at the river Bayamban,on the opposite bank of which the enemy had entrenched themselves with some cannon and pattereros. The firing commenced on both sides; our people passed over the river, took the entrenchments, and put the Indians to flight, although they were ten thousand in number, and followed them up a short distance; but before they expended all their cartridges they thought proper to retreat, which they did in good order; on our part four Spaniards and four Indians were killed, whose heads the rebels carried off to the towns, where they amused themselves with dancing, according to their custom, and became bolder than ever. The Dominican friars, in endeavouring to escape, often ran the risk of their lives; some were, however, enabled to get away, but those who remained were obliged to refuse the sacrament to the Indians, and for which they intended to murder them, until the voice of the women, as also ofthose who had not entered into the rebellion by choice, prevailing, it was resolved to spare their lives. To add to all their troubles, those poor friars had the additional regret to find their fidelity suspected, merely because they were not murdered by the Indians. Miserable, indeed, was the situation of the missionaries in those times; if they abandoned their duty they were blamed, because it was said the flame of rebellion became more extended; and if they remained among them, and were not killed by the Indians, out of respect, or because they wanted a confessor in the hour of death, they were deemed accomplices in their crimes.The Dominican friars completely vindicated their honour by means of their discourses, and by the aid of the Bishop Ustariz, who, having tranquillized the inhabitants of Ylocos, came to give his assistance in the pacification of the province of Pangasinan. The rebels were in somedegree quieted, and, at last, were induced to proceed to Pampanga to solicit an Alcalde Mayor of Señor Anda. They were very kindly received, their former crimes were pardoned, and he gave them Azevedo for their Alcalde, who took possession of his magistracy on the 5th of December, 1763.Señor Azevedo was not long in discovering that the flame of rebellion was only smothered, and not extinguished; and he gave information to Señor Anda to that effect, requesting him to send a force to keep the deluded in awe. Señor Anda despatched one hundred and eighty men from his camp to Pangasinan, and gave orders to Don Manuel Arza to extirpate the last remains of the rebellion from Ylocos, that he might form a junction with the troops going to Manila under command of Don Pedro Bonardel. As soon as the rebels knew that troops were going from Manila, they assembled tumultuouslyin the town of Calasiao, where the Alcalde was with two Spaniards and two Dominican friars in the convent. The Indians besieged them, but they defended themselves with their muskets; and the rebels not daring to make an assault on the convent, chose the alternative of setting it on fire. The unfortunate party besieged had no other resource but to take refuge on the tower of the church, with the little provisions they could find at hand, where they maintained themselves five days, until our troops learning their unfortunate situation made a forced march to their assistance, routing the rebels in their way.Bonardel pursued his march to Lingayen, the capital of the province, and putting every detachment of rebels to flight which came in his way, he fortified that town, and was joined by Don Manuel de Arza with a body of Indians which he brought from Ylocos, both by sea and land. Bonardel leaving the remainder of his peoplein Lingayen, took fifty men, and went to St. Fabian to liberate the Bishop and some Dominicans, whom the rebels detained as prisoners; he routed them, and although they had possessed themselves of the passes, he managed to join the rest of the army.In the beginning of the year 1764 nobody opposed our authority in the towns, the rebels had retired to the mountains, taking with them the friars who were not able to join the Spaniards: each troop of rebels had its particular chief, and the rebellion could not be quelled merely by one battle. It was therefore determined upon to distribute detachments over the country, and subdue it in detail. They proceeded by hanging the leaders of the mutiny as they took them, pardoning the great mass of their followers; but they were so very obstinate, that although sensible they could offer no resistance, and that it was easy for them to obtain a general amnesty, they still continued in rebellion, nor was it effectuallyquelled till March, 1765. On our side we lost in this expedition seventy Spaniards, and one hundred and forty Indians, and of the rebels more than ten thousand perished. Many of the rebels too died of hunger, or passed over to other provinces, and the first enumeration that was made of the province after the rebellion, it was found that twenty-six thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven persons were deficient of the proper number, composing nearly half the population. All the other provinces of the islands were restored to tranquillity, and maintained in their allegiance to the King of Spain, under the orders of Señor Anda.

In the province of Batangas, one of the principal inhabitants of the town of San Pablo collecting a body of Chinese and Indians, murdered the friar, in revenge for some supposed injury. Even the commandant of the troops in the town of Rosario, having collected some of those whom the English had liberated from prison, satiated his fury on the resident minister, (who had complained that he was not allowed the number of servants which the King ordered) by setting fire to his housein the first instance, and murdering him in the act of escaping from the flames.

Another party in this province was commanded by a mulatto, who styled himself a King. His first attack was on Liyan estate, belonging to the Jesuits, upon which were some Spaniards and monks, who made terms with him on his granting them their lives, and delivered up the house to be plundered. Some of his people went to rob the prior of Tanavan, who was an Augustine, and had retired to the granary in order to avoid the English; but finding on him only two rials, they murdered him in a most cruel and wanton manner.

In the province of Lake Bay the Indians made many attacks on the Spaniards, who had retired to that country, particularly on the alcalde mayor, with whom they had before been on very bad terms, and on the monks, because they had favoured the conveyance of the money to Manila, which the Franciscan friars remittedto Señor Anda. The Archbishop issued an order, in which he desired that if the English went into that quarter they might be well treated, and not to make any resistance to them, as, by that conduct, less mischief would be done. The alcalde sent this order over the mountains to Pagsanhan, but the officer commanding there issued a counter-order to that of the alcalde, designating him as a traitor, who wanted to deliver up the province to the English. The alcalde being informed of this, contrived to put him in confinement, and had him publicly whipped under the gallows. This enraged the Indians, and collecting in considerable numbers, they attacked and ill treated the alcalde’s family; they killed his cousin, his son in law, and a German who lived with him, and they took the alcalde himself to the gallows, where, after flogging him most cruelly, they stabbed him to death.

The aggressors presented themselvesbefore Señor Anda, suing for pardon for this offence; and he not deeming this a proper season to show due severity, let the matter pass unnoticed.

The provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga firmly adhered to their allegiance, and, indeed, were the only districts on which the Spaniards could place reliance, although there were not wanting some malicious spirits, who, taking advantage of the times, by menaces extorted money, robbed and plundered the estates, and even murdered a poor Dominican, who resided at Pandi. These, however, were the crimes of individuals, and not chargeable on the body of the people: it may therefore be said, that these provinces, which were in the immediate neighbourhood of Manila, were tranquil, and preserved their allegiance to the Spaniards.

Although the Señor Arandia had sent away all the Pagan Chinese, others replaced them after his death, and the augmentationof their numbers which took place in three years was incredible. There were besides many Chinese Christians in Parian, and scattered over the provinces, and almost all of them declared for the English. The moment they took possession of Manila, these Chinese gave them every aid, and accompanied them in all their expeditions. They had it, indeed, in contemplation to make a general rising, which would have caused much bloodshed had it not been discovered in time, for it was their plan to murder Señor Anda and all hispeoplein Bacolor church, on Christmas eve, 1762; and by committing every description of outrage in the churches that same night, they expected to render the Spaniards incapable of resisting the English, with whom they had a secret understanding.

The authors of this most atrocious scheme were the Chinese of the town of Uava, in the province of Pampanga, wheremany of that nation had fixed their residence, and fabricated a species of cannon which they made of large cane, well tied together with tarred rushes, and which bore two or three discharges. They deceived the officiating clergyman of the town, telling him they were preparing all those things against the English, but Señor Anda had his suspicions of them. In this state of things a poor simple Chinese, who was going to marry an Indian of a village, called Mexico, advised Señor Anda not to go to mass, and in the end discovered all the plot. The Indian girl likewise made a full discovery to the Augustine curate of that town, and he communicated her story to Anda, who went to Uava with some troops on the 23d of December.

The Chinese went out to meet him in two detachments, with their cane guns, by a discharge of which one of his people was killed; the Spaniards returned the fire, and obliged the Chinese to retire to theconvent. Señor Anda sent a Spaniard to propose an amicable arrangement with them, but, blind and obstinate in their rebellion, they refused it. Our people then advanced, seeing they must have recourse to arms, and made an immense carnage among them; many of them likewise were taken alive, and hanged next day in Bacolor. Señor Anda gave orders that those who escaped should be tried for their conduct, in whatever part they were found; but having found some letters which proved that they had an understanding with those of Parian on the subject of these commotions, he ordered that all the Chinese in the islands should be hanged, which orders were put in execution very generally, but where the order had been disregarded, he readily overlooked the omission.

In the province of Cagayan the disturbances had commenced as soon as the capture of Manila was known, and in the town of Yligan, the Indians, whom we callTimavas, had flogged the commandant of the place. They presented themselves to the chiefs, who were appointed receivers of the royal revenue, declaring themselves no longer tributary to the Spanish government: other towns followed their example, and the rebellion thus gained ground. The chiefs called in the aid of the infidel Indians, and some skirmishes took place; but not being able to succeed in reducing the insurgents to submission, they applied to the fountain head, imploring the assistance of the Spaniards. Don Manuel de Arza had just arrived in the province with the title of Captain-general of the three provinces of Cagayan, Ylocos, and Pangasinan (the two latter being likewise in a state of insurrection); and collecting a number of loyal Indians and some Spaniards, he overpowered the rebels, hanged the ringleaders, and restored tranquillity in the province. His presence being no longer necessary in Cagayan, hewent to Ylocos, where sedition had taken a still deeper root. Diego de Silang, an Indian, very quick and artful, and who being a native of Manila, spoke the Spanish language well, began to revolutionize this province, by telling his countrymen, that in order to maintain the Catholic faith, and to preserve the country in obedience to the King, it was requisite to join together and arm against the Spaniards, and deliver them up to the English, against whom they had no means of resistance. These specious arguments made an impression on the minds of the chiefs, and many plebeians, particularly those of Bigan, which is the capital of the province, and residence of the Bishop. The seduced Indians presented themselves armed, and demanded that the Alcalde should give up the staff of government, and deposit it in the hands of the Vicar-general. The majority advised the Alcalde to defend himself against this attack; but instigated by hisfears, or swayed by the opinion of injudicious friends, he resigned the command to the Vicar-general, and with noinconsiderableshare of hazard of his life, effected his escape from the province. Emboldened by their success in this instance, the rebels demanded of the Bishop elect, Señor Ustariz, a Dominican, an exemption from the tribute, declaring that they acted justifiable in deposing the Alcalde. The Bishop pledged himself to lay before Señor Anda a favourable representation of their claims; but Silang being determined on acquiring the command, and little satisfied with what he had done, began to collect troops for more extensive operations.

The house of the Vicar-general was too well fortified for the rebels to attack it, but they presented themselves armed on the hills in the vicinity. The Vicar-general ordered the loyal Indians to assemble at Bigan, armed and accoutred, from whence the whole sallied out, and surprising therebels, they took some of them; but discontinuing the action too soon, and separating in their usual unsoldier-like manner, they thus gave the rebels an opportunity to rally, and a day or two after they set fire to and burnt down part of the city. The Indians from the south, who came to the defence of the town, seeing it in flames, returned, as did those of the north, by which means the rebels were enabled to take possession of the Vicar-general’s house, and the arms it contained.

Silang, rendered vain by these successes, despatched emissaries towards the north, who, raising all the native towns, committed many robberies and atrocities, directing their vengeance in particular against some of the chiefs and Augustine friars, insisting on its having been their fault that the tribute had not been abolished; but in the end their avarice prevailed, and they agreed to accept a consideration in money by way of ransom for their lives.The authority of Silang being acknowledged by the towns of the north, his emissaries proceeded to those of the south, directing each of them to name a chief as their representative, who was ordered to Bigan, where their powers were to be ratified. By this means he levied considerable sums of money. In a few days he found himself master of the whole province, and he appointed Jesus of Nazareth to be Captain-general of it, he himself assuming the title of his Alcalde Mayor for the protection of the Catholic religion, and of the dominions of the King of Spain. He published a manifesto, which breathed the true spirit of Christianity; always wore his rosary; and obliged the Indians to hear mass, ordering them to confess, and to take care that the children went regularly to school. In the midst of all the sepious actions, he, by means of his emissaries, robbed the estates of cattle, and obliged the proprietors to ransom their lives with money: he levieda sum of one hundred dollars from every friar, but reduced the fine to eighty dollars, on the petition of one of them who had formerly done him favours. Under the pretext of defending the province from the English, he had centinels placed in all directions, with a view to prevent information being conveyed to Señor Anda of what passed. An Augustine friar, however, contrived to forward a despatch to that effect; but Señor Anda having scarcely troops enough to defend himself, merely sent an order to Silang to present himself at Bacolor in nine days, to give an account of his conduct, under the penalty of being considered as a traitor, and arrested, for which purpose he threatened to send a force to Pampanga, if necessary.

This order was published, accompanied by many vague reports that the Spaniards were coming against Ylocos; in consequence of which, and the friars refusing to grant absolution to the rebels, many ofthem deserted from Silang, particularly those of the northern towns, and on this account many of the clergy were made prisoners and conducted to Bigan, although Silang very soon liberated them; for he still affected to respect the Catholic religion, whereby he deceived the clergy, and many Indians who put confidence in him. This rebel had sent to Manila, as a present to the English, two junks, loaded with various effects, which he had plundered in the provinces. A letter accompanied this present, in which he acknowledged the King of Great Britain to be his legitimate Sovereign, and offered to deliver up the province to them. The English government sent a vessel bearing despatches, and a present to Silang, and conferred on him the title of Alcalde Mayor, which he directly made public, to the great regret of the Indians, who had urged him to deliver them from the English, and now saw themselves subjected to them under the ordersof the despot, Diego Silang, who exacted from them contributions, and subjected them to more vexations than they ever suffered before; at the same time that they no longer dared to express their sentiments. As the chief magistrate of the English, and in their name, he ordered some soldiers whom he had raised from the mountaineers of other provinces, who had taken refuge at Ylocos, to make all the friars prisoners; and that there might be no resistance on the part of the towns, he promised them that the English should send them other clergy toadministerthe sacrament to them. The monks, who were Augustines, made no resistance, and with all possible despatch joined their Bishop in the convent of Bantay (which is merely a short walk from Bigan), waiting the ultimate determination of the tyrant. The Bishop declared Silang excommunicated; and he, pretending to be sensible of his error, granted permission to some of the clergy to return totheir towns; but they had received intelligence of arrangements he had made for murdering them all, and that he was in expectation of the arrival of some infidels from the mountains to execute his wicked designs, for the Indians not only refused to lay their hands on the clergy, but were determined to die with them. They all prepared for death, without further hopes than what arose from the intentions of the principal Indians, who were making dispositions to come to their assistance; but this was delayed so long, that a Spanish mestizo, named Vicos, presenting himself to the Bishop, said, “Señor, I am going to make an end of that vile Indian; give me your benediction, that I may go and kill the tyrant.” He went out of the convent, accompanied by Captain Buecbuee, with a blunderbuss in very bad condition, and reaching the house of Silang, discharged the contents in his side, which caused his immediate death. In consequence of thishis party became completely broken and dismayed, and the same evening the bells were set a ringing, and the evening service sung, to the satisfaction of all, and in the midst of exclamations of “Long live the King of Spain!” The Bishop wished to appoint Vicos chief justice, but the latter advised him to name Buecbuee, who had a considerable party, and could therefore the better overawe any ill disposed persons. The friars immediately returned to their towns, and through their persuasions, seconded by the authority of Don Manuel Arza, who had just arrived, they tranquillized such as were in any way discontented. The death of Silang happened the 28th of May, 1763, and he had commenced his rebellion the 14th of December, 1762.

The most obstinate rebellion of the Indians was that in the province of Pangasinan. The sedition broke out at the town of Binalatongan on the 3d of November,1762, in consequence of the Alcalde Mayor having sent a commission to collect the royal tribute. The news spread over all the towns of the province; a general request was made that the tribute should be remitted, and that the Alcalde Mayor and judges of the different towns should be replaced by others. About the end of November arrived Don Antonio Panelo at Pangasinan, with the title of lieutenant-general, and with orders from Señor Anda to confine the Alcalde, who was a creature of the Archbishop, and suspected of tampering with the English, although nothing like this was ever proved. As soon as Panelo arrived, the revolted Indians presented themselves, demanding that the tribute should be abolished, and that the Spaniards should quit the province. The latter were fourteen in number, with muskets and pattereros, and the Dominican friars advised them to defend themselves against this mob; but they were alarmedat their numbers, and abandoning the province, the Indians continued their rebellious proceedings.

The Dominican friars assembled in the town of Asingan, and wrote to their respective parishioners that they would forsake them if they did not submit to the King of Spain; the result of which was, that the Indians came from all quarters, supplicating them to return to their towns, and promising to go to Pampanga to beg of Señor Anda, an Alcalde Mayor; however, they performed none of their promises, so that our Governor and Captain-general was obliged to send troops to reduce them to subjection. Don Fernando Araya went out with thirty-three Spaniards and four hundred Indian archers; they took with them five hundred cartridges, which was all the ammunition that could be spared, in consequence of the scarcity of that article at Pampanga. These troops arrived in Lent time at the river Bayamban,on the opposite bank of which the enemy had entrenched themselves with some cannon and pattereros. The firing commenced on both sides; our people passed over the river, took the entrenchments, and put the Indians to flight, although they were ten thousand in number, and followed them up a short distance; but before they expended all their cartridges they thought proper to retreat, which they did in good order; on our part four Spaniards and four Indians were killed, whose heads the rebels carried off to the towns, where they amused themselves with dancing, according to their custom, and became bolder than ever. The Dominican friars, in endeavouring to escape, often ran the risk of their lives; some were, however, enabled to get away, but those who remained were obliged to refuse the sacrament to the Indians, and for which they intended to murder them, until the voice of the women, as also ofthose who had not entered into the rebellion by choice, prevailing, it was resolved to spare their lives. To add to all their troubles, those poor friars had the additional regret to find their fidelity suspected, merely because they were not murdered by the Indians. Miserable, indeed, was the situation of the missionaries in those times; if they abandoned their duty they were blamed, because it was said the flame of rebellion became more extended; and if they remained among them, and were not killed by the Indians, out of respect, or because they wanted a confessor in the hour of death, they were deemed accomplices in their crimes.

The Dominican friars completely vindicated their honour by means of their discourses, and by the aid of the Bishop Ustariz, who, having tranquillized the inhabitants of Ylocos, came to give his assistance in the pacification of the province of Pangasinan. The rebels were in somedegree quieted, and, at last, were induced to proceed to Pampanga to solicit an Alcalde Mayor of Señor Anda. They were very kindly received, their former crimes were pardoned, and he gave them Azevedo for their Alcalde, who took possession of his magistracy on the 5th of December, 1763.

Señor Azevedo was not long in discovering that the flame of rebellion was only smothered, and not extinguished; and he gave information to Señor Anda to that effect, requesting him to send a force to keep the deluded in awe. Señor Anda despatched one hundred and eighty men from his camp to Pangasinan, and gave orders to Don Manuel Arza to extirpate the last remains of the rebellion from Ylocos, that he might form a junction with the troops going to Manila under command of Don Pedro Bonardel. As soon as the rebels knew that troops were going from Manila, they assembled tumultuouslyin the town of Calasiao, where the Alcalde was with two Spaniards and two Dominican friars in the convent. The Indians besieged them, but they defended themselves with their muskets; and the rebels not daring to make an assault on the convent, chose the alternative of setting it on fire. The unfortunate party besieged had no other resource but to take refuge on the tower of the church, with the little provisions they could find at hand, where they maintained themselves five days, until our troops learning their unfortunate situation made a forced march to their assistance, routing the rebels in their way.

Bonardel pursued his march to Lingayen, the capital of the province, and putting every detachment of rebels to flight which came in his way, he fortified that town, and was joined by Don Manuel de Arza with a body of Indians which he brought from Ylocos, both by sea and land. Bonardel leaving the remainder of his peoplein Lingayen, took fifty men, and went to St. Fabian to liberate the Bishop and some Dominicans, whom the rebels detained as prisoners; he routed them, and although they had possessed themselves of the passes, he managed to join the rest of the army.

In the beginning of the year 1764 nobody opposed our authority in the towns, the rebels had retired to the mountains, taking with them the friars who were not able to join the Spaniards: each troop of rebels had its particular chief, and the rebellion could not be quelled merely by one battle. It was therefore determined upon to distribute detachments over the country, and subdue it in detail. They proceeded by hanging the leaders of the mutiny as they took them, pardoning the great mass of their followers; but they were so very obstinate, that although sensible they could offer no resistance, and that it was easy for them to obtain a general amnesty, they still continued in rebellion, nor was it effectuallyquelled till March, 1765. On our side we lost in this expedition seventy Spaniards, and one hundred and forty Indians, and of the rebels more than ten thousand perished. Many of the rebels too died of hunger, or passed over to other provinces, and the first enumeration that was made of the province after the rebellion, it was found that twenty-six thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven persons were deficient of the proper number, composing nearly half the population. All the other provinces of the islands were restored to tranquillity, and maintained in their allegiance to the King of Spain, under the orders of Señor Anda.

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